Forty Hells Angels locations in Canada raided by police
{{date|April 6, 2007}}
{{Canadian news}}

On Wednesday, approximately forty [[w:Hells Angels#Canada|Hells Angels]] locations were raided by police in [[Ontario]], [[:Category:New Brunswick|New Brunswick]], and [[:Category:British Columbia|British Columbia]]. Police arrested more than thirty people in the three provinces.

[[Image:Hells Angels New York by David Shankbone.jpg|left|150px|thumb|A Hells Angels location in [[w:New York City|New York City]].]]

The largest Hells Angels location in Canada, located in [[w:Downtown Toronto|downtown Toronto]] on 498 Eastern Ave., was raided early Wednesday morning. Nearly sixteen members were arrested with two members still on the wanted list. [[w:Toronto Police|Toronto Police]] removed the sign and are now investigating. They are currently planning a large crackdown on the Hells Angels in the [[w:Greater Toronto Area|Greater Toronto Area]] (GTA).

"Hopefully by now biker gangs and their associates are getting the message: we're here to shut you down. You can run but you can't hide, and we will do all that we can to bring you to justice," said [[w:Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner|Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner]] (OPP) [[w:Julian Fantino|Julian Fantino]]. "I believe that we have to continue the attack on organized crime however it's manifested, and we owe the citizens of our community no less." "It's a good day for policing in Toronto, a good day for policing in Ontario."

"Project Develop was an 18-month investigation that utilized a full-patch Hells Angels member as a police agent to infiltrate the Toronto downtown chapter of the Hells Angels," OPP Inspector Dan Redmond said yesterday. "Hells Angels criminal activity has been exposed by one of their own."

Nearly 170 charges were laid against thirty-one people, police said, though they provided no list of charges or names. Sixteen full-patch members are said to be in custody, with arrest warrants outstanding for another two. Police seized vehicles, drugs, weapons, property and real-estate, but were not specific about the amounts.

The Hells Angels is a large biker gang founded 1948 in [[w:Fontana, California|Fontana, California]] and is estimated to have 1,800 members in 22 countries. Since they started many other biker gangs merged with them, due to the fact that the Hells Angels are larger. The Hells Angels have 500 members in Canada, thirty-four active chapters in Canada, sixteen in Ontario, seven in British Columbia, five in [[:Category:Quebec|Quebec]], three in [[:Category:Alberta|Alberta]], two in [[:Category:Saskatchewan|Saskatchewan]], and one in [[:Category:Manitoba|Manitoba]]. A number of raids have been made since, with two in September and January 2006.

A location on Sherwood Ave. in [[w:Scarborough, Ontario|Scarborough, Ontario]], and a house on Berard Court in [[w:Barrie, Ontario|Barrie, Ontario]] are under a [[w:restraining order|restraining order]] as they may have drug related crimes.

The Toronto chapter of Hells Angels, in the "Real Deal News" section of their website, alleged that the police were staging a show for the media and that the raids were overly dramatic to make Hells Angels look bad on television.

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/04/05/hells-angels-police.html
|title=Insider key to Hells Angels raids: police
|author=
|pub=CBC News
|date=April 5, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=791fcde1-b377-4a7d-a93a-cc9b37511065&k=89014
|title='A good day for policing' Fantino calls Hells Angels raids
|author=Shane Dingman
|pub=National Post
|date=April 5, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070405/hellsangels_folo_070405/20070405?hub=TopStories
|title=Hells Angels were 'exposed by one of their own'
|author=
|pub=CTV
|date=April 5, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.news1130.com/news/national/article.jsp?content=n040541A
|title=Police lay 169 charges, make 31 arrests in raids on Hells Angels in Ontario
|author=
|pub=News1130
|date=April 5, 2007}}
*{{source-pr|url=http://www.redwhiteclothing.ca/club/page101.html
|title=Police Delay News Conference To Stage Show
|pub=Hells Angels
|date=April 5, 2007}}
{{wikipediapar|Hells Angels}}
==External links==
*[http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bikergangs/ CBC: In Depth Look Into Biker Gangs]

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[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:Ontario]]
[[Category:New Brunswick]]
[[Category:British Columbia]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
On Wednesday, approximately forty Hells Angels locations were raided by police in Ontario, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. Police arrested more than thirty people in the three provinces.

New York City.

The largest Hells Angels location in Canada, located in downtown Toronto on 498 Eastern Ave., was raided early Wednesday morning. Nearly sixteen members were arrested with two members still on the wanted list. Toronto Police removed the sign and are now investigating. They are currently planning a large crackdown on the Hells Angels in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

"Hopefully by now biker gangs and their associates are getting the message: we're here to shut you down. You can run but you can't hide, and we will do all that we can to bring you to justice," said Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner (OPP) Julian Fantino. "I believe that we have to continue the attack on organized crime however it's manifested, and we owe the citizens of our community no less." "It's a good day for policing in Toronto, a good day for policing in Ontario."

"Project Develop was an 18-month investigation that utilized a full-patch Hells Angels member as a police agent to infiltrate the Toronto downtown chapter of the Hells Angels," OPP Inspector Dan Redmond said yesterday. "Hells Angels criminal activity has been exposed by one of their own."

Nearly 170 charges were laid against thirty-one people, police said, though they provided no list of charges or names. Sixteen full-patch members are said to be in custody, with arrest warrants outstanding for another two. Police seized vehicles, drugs, weapons, property and real-estate, but were not specific about the amounts.

The Hells Angels is a large biker gang founded 1948 in Fontana, California and is estimated to have 1,800 members in 22 countries. Since they started many other biker gangs merged with them, due to the fact that the Hells Angels are larger. The Hells Angels have 500 members in Canada, thirty-four active chapters in Canada, sixteen in Ontario, seven in British Columbia, five in Quebec, three in Alberta, two in Saskatchewan, and one in Manitoba. A number of raids have been made since, with two in September and January 2006.

A location on Sherwood Ave. in Scarborough, Ontario, and a house on Berard Court in Barrie, Ontario are under a restraining order as they may have drug related crimes.

The Toronto chapter of Hells Angels, in the "Real Deal News" section of their website, alleged that the police were staging a show for the media and that the raids were overly dramatic to make Hells Angels look bad on television.
North America Canada Ontario New Brunswick British Columbia Crime and law